Arsene Wenger is set to sign Gillingham wonderkid Luke Freeman - and make him one of Arsenal's English stars of the future.

Gillingham striker Freeman, 15, the youngest ever player to play in the FA Cup, is expected to join Arsenal on Monday with a down payment of around £500,000 which could rise in the future.

Wenger, who has often taken stick this season for naming a 16-man squad without an Englishman, takes pride in Freeman being English and says the club has a lot of emerging home-grown talent.

Arsenal are putting their faith in English teenagers Henri Lansbury, Mark Randall and Kieran Gibbs while Jack Willshere is also one for the future.

Wenger also says that of 25 players coming through the academy system only five are foreign.

Wenger said: "We will be pushing the Freeman deal through, I want to buy English! We will pay them a transfer fee.

"We want them as young as possible, and, if you are not on the case somebody else is on it. It's because it's a competitive world, you do not really choose the age you buy the players.

"When a good player comes out you know you are not on your own, you're competing with four or five clubs, and if you don't do it, somebody else does it - so, even if ideally you would wait one or two more years, you can't anymore.

"I like Freeman, I met the boy, his personality, he looks alert. He's a striker and at 15 to play for the first team sometimes is something special."